Walfrid theodor sylven



(No Model.)

W. T. SYLVEN.

BULK HEAD. No. 408,146. Patented July 30, 188-9.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC WALFRID THEODOR SYLVEN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BULK-HEAD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,146, dated July 30, 1889. Application filed October 9, 1888. Serial No. 287,700. (No model.)

' being had to the accompanying drawings, in

which- Figure 1 is a half-midship section of a vessel, showing a transverse bulk-head with ra dial stiffening-ribs. Fig. 2 is the same in a two-decked vessel. Fig. 3 is a horizontal crosssection of a transverse partition, showing stiffening-ribs on one side. Fig. 4. is a side view of a longitudinal bulk-head or coalbunker partition. Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section of the same. Fig.6 is a hori- 'zontal section of a coal-bunker, showing the longitudinal partition or bulk-head and the stiffening-ribs. Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of the junction of the transverse and the 1011- gitudinal bulk-head, showing the method of fastening by knees.

The object of my invention is to provide a water-tight partition so constructed that the resistance shall everywhere be proportional to the strain upon the structure.

My invention is particularly designed for use in the bulkheads separating watertight compartments in sea-going vessels, and I accomplish the object above specified by ranging the stiffening-ribs as herein shown and described below.

I arrange the stiffeners so that they will be spaced closer at the middle of the bulk-head than at the sides of the vessel, and also closer at the bottom of the vessel than at the decks,

each stiffener having an approximate diagonal or radial direction. The downward elongation of the stiffener will cross the center line of the bulkhead generally below the bot.- tom of the vessel, these intersections taking place in different points for different stiffeners, as will be seen on the drawings. The stiffeners do not radiate from onepoint, because such would crowd them too much together in the bottom and give the upper ends too much spread.

In Fig. 1 the bulk-head of a single-deck vessel is shown in fore-and-aft view, the deck being shown in section at D. The stiffeningribs are shown at 11 and, as will be apparent from the drawings, are not equally spaced. In spacing the ribs they will be placed nearer together toward the center of the bulk-head than they will be near the edge, and these spaces will increase according to the distance from the center. In Fig. 4; the same general construction is shown.

For purposes of stiffening-ribs I prefer to use angle-irons, as is seen in section in Figs. 3 and 6. Any section of iron may be used, however, and will answer all the purposes of my invention, provided the spacing between the ribs increases with the distance above the bottom and on each side away from the median vertical line. With this explanation it will not be diffieult to appreciate the advantages in cost and eificiency which my device presents.

According to the well-known law of pressure the intensity of this pressure increases with the depth from the surface. Hitherto in the construction of water-tight bulkheads the stiffening-ribs have been placed vertically, thus presenting an equal resistance at every depth, with the result of a greater or less waste of material. In my device, the ribs approaching each other as the depth increases, each rib has a less surface to support, and consequently the strength of the bulk-head is increased in proportion to the increasing water-pressure. So much for the radial arrangement of the ribs.

When the bulk-head of the vessel is laid open to the sea, the pressure being exerted either by the statical pressure or bythe momentum or living force of the water against the bulk-head, the middle of the bulk-head will prove the weakest part. Therefore the stiffeners should be placed closer at the middle than at the sides. On account of the statical pressure being greater at the bottom than at the top, the spacing of the stiffeners should also be closer at the bottom than at the top. I accomplish this by spacing the stiifening-ribs so that the distance between each stiifeningrib at the top of the bulk-head increases as we approach the side of the vessel, and also so that the spacing of the ribs at the bottom of the vessel increases away from the center, the distance at the bottom between any two stiffeners being always less than at the top. In other words, the stilfeners are so arranged that the downward continuation of the line of each stiffener would cross the downward continuation of the central line of the vessel at different points, all of which will be readily understood by a glance at the accompanying drawings. g

It will be readily understood that different relations between depth and breadth in different-shaped vessels will necessitate some modifications in the location and arrangement of the stiffeners without altering the general principle.

Where the transverse bulkheads intersect the longitudinal partition, the stiffeners may be either fastened by knees, as shown in Fig. 7, or they may be carried through as far as the sides of the vessel, the lines of intersection of the partitions being made watertight in the ordinary way. lrVhere it is necessary to pierce the partitions for doors or Windows, the apertures thus made should be framed in and the frames be firmly fastened to the ribs at their points of juncture.

The exact disposition hereinabove described is of course not essential to the carrying out of my principle, the originality in my device lying in the fact that the stiffeningribs are so disposed as to everywhere present a resistance proportional to the pressure to which it is opposed.

It is obvious that my invention applies fully as well to the construction of the walls of coffer dams, caissons, &c., as to the bulkheadsof vessels. In fact, any structure which is designed to resist the pressure of liquids may be built in the above-described manner to great advantage.

Where extra strength is required, the middle rib should be made larger, as shown at a in the drawings. The reason of this con struction is obvious from the above explanation.

Ilavin g now described the objects, uses, and advantages of my device, what I believe to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, and what I therefore claim, is

1. The herein-described improvement in vertically fitted bulk heads, consisting of stiffening-ribs placed diagonally across the bulk-head and secured thereto and diverging from a central line, substantially as and for the purposes specified, whereby the varying degrees of statical pressure are resisted by correspondingly varied or graduated stiffeners, as set forth.

2. In a bulk-head, diagonal stiffening-ribs converging toward the bottom, placed closer together at the center line of the ship and the bulk-head than at the sides of the ship, the lower elongation of said stitfeners to intersect with said center line or its downward elongation, substantially as described.

3. In a bulk-head, diagonal stiffening-ribs fastened to the bulk-head, placed in a vertical plane closer at the bottom than at the top of the bulk-head, in order to conform with the different statical pressures acting on the bulkhead when laid open to the sea, the stiffeners as a whole having the appearance of a modified vertical fan, substantially as described.

4. In a bulk-head, a water-tight partition having stiffening-ribs arranged in pairs and extended obliquely from points on a vertical line drawn in the middle of the bulk-head or partition or on the downward elongation of said middle line, the stiffening ribs or stays as a whole having a resemblance of a vertical fan with its lower part out off, the stiffeners fastened to the bulk-head or partition, and the distance between the stiffeners increasing upward and the same distance also increasing toward the sides of the vessel, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof Iafiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WALFRID THEODOR SYLVEN.

Witnesses:

HAROLD S. MACKAYE,

FRANK DORIAN. 

